‘Afterword’

By Jeffrey Harrison

Oct. 16, 2015

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CreditCreditIllustration by R.O. Blechman

The simplest images can startle us, prompting a flash of recognition. Reading this poem, I thought of my mother and the notepad I found in her briefcase after she died. There was a message to me there, as vivid as the leaves of Jeffrey Harrison’s severed maple branch. Here, the single rhyme creates a sense of closure, an echo drawing the images together.

Poem selected by Natasha Trethewey.

Natasha Trethewey served as the poet laureate of the United State from 2012 to 2014. She is a professor at Emory University. Jeffrey Harrison is the author of five collections of poetry, including, most recently, ‘‘Into Daylight,’’ published last year by Tupelo Press.

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